1) candidates must meet the Constitution’s requirements for eligibility

2) must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning a majority vote in the Electoral College, and

3) have a level of support of at least 15 percent of the national electorate as determined by five selected national public opinion polling organizations.

Johnson meets the Constitutional requirement and should he win the Libertarian Party nomination, he’ll meet the requirement of appearing on state ballots. So if he can cross the 15 percent threshold on polling, he’ll get on the stage with Obama and the Republican nominee.

That’s a real hurdle but Johnson told Capitol Report New Mexico that in a three-way race between Obama, Romney and Johnson, he scored at 9 percent in a survey conducted by the Public Policy Pollingorganization — a well-respected outfit that is aligned with the national Democratic Party.

“I get a real sense from voters that they’re saying, ‘Anything but these two’ [Obama and the GOP nominee]. Maybe that becomes clearer as the campaign goes on … and if I’m the [Libertarian] nominee.”

But in recent presidential elections, notable political figures such as Ralph Nader and Patrick Buchananwere not able to muscle their way on to the debate stage. The last third-party candidate who managed to appear against the Democratic and Republican nominees was Ross Perot in 1992.

He has since taken his campaign that combines fiscal conservativism (promising a balanced budget and sharp cuts in federal spending) and social liberalism (support for gay marriage and legalizing marijuana) across the country, trying to gain some mainstream traction.

Johnson’s complaints about Obama ranged from budget issues — “On the fiscal side, [his term has] been a zero” — to individual rights.

“On civil liberties, it’s been about not tipping the applecart,” Johnson said. “Well, he campaigned on change and how are you going to change things if you don’t tip the applecart?”

As for the Republican race for the nomination:

“I think Santorum is so vilified because he wears [his social conservativism] on his sleeve.”

“When you press Romney on Afghanistan, we’ll be there until the ‘mission is accomplished.’ We could be there for years on end.”

“They draw a line in the sand that I don’t think any of us are well-served by … they’re competing to see who’s the most trigger-happy. Every time they beat their chests more service men and women could end up getting killed.”

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Ben Swann

About Me

I'm a former U.S. Marine and Iraq War veteran. Now, I work as a Deputy Sheriff. I have an Associate's in Criminal Justice, and I'm working on a Bachelor's in Theology/Psychology. I'm a fiscally conservative Democrat, turned pro-life, Big "L" libertarian. As of 2/16/16, I'm the former Bledsoe Co, TN District 3 Commissioner (and I've never been happier now that I'm out of the game). I'm a member and/or supporter of the Libertarian Party, Campaign For Liberty, PERC, the Acton Institute, Wild Cat Unionism, the VFW, the National Association for Gun Rights, the Cato Institute, The Carter Center, The Bush Center Human Freedom Initiative, Gary Johnson's Our America Initiative, I'm a strong supporter of the Constitution, especially the 1st and 2nd Amendments. I believe in a strong, but constitutionally defined, national defense and foreign policy. I consider myself socially progressive but, at the federal level, fiscally conservative. I believe that progressiveness works best at the state and local levels. It is time to throw parties aside, and start looking at individual candidates and their stances on the issues.